Chris Doering says Florida coaches 'happy' with departures via transfer portal
After the first season of the Billy Napier era, there was a notable number of Florida players who opted to hit the NCAA transfer portal and look to play elsewhere. UF coaches were glad to see most of those players go, according to one former Gator great.
Chris Doering, a Florida Athletic Hall of Famer now with the SEC Network, discussed UF’s attrition when he visited The Paul Finebaum Show. As far as the players who have transferred out, Doering shares that UF coaches were glad to see most of them go, as many were either not culture fits or lacked talent.
SEC Football Final Analyst @ChrisDoering on the Gators:
“There’s been some attrition in Gainesville and people losing their minds, but sources tell me a lot of the players in the portal, coaches are happy to see them go…either due to talent or not fitting the culture.”
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 19, 2023
On Thursday, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times noted that Florida’s entrants in the first transfer portal window ranked among the nation’s highest:
Only Texas A&M (27), Arkansas (27) and Mississippi (25) lost more players to the portal this cycle than the Gators (23), according to recruiting site On3.
The next window for players to enter the NCAA transfer portal opens in May.
With the transfer portal closed until May, we can quantify how much attrition the Gators have seen under Billy Napier. More players from Dan Mullen’s last game have transferred (38) than remain (37). https://t.co/04POZqYR5g
— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) January 19, 2023
Gee, now that was a “shocking” revelation. This will be classic addition by subtraction. The Gators, particularly the defense and special teams, will play consistently better next season without all the players that left via the portal.
Emilio, I still believe ’23 will be punctuated by some degree of inconsistency as CBN transitions from a hybrid roster to his own – but logically it really should improve with considerably less handicaps and rate-limiting performances. “Buy-in” is both subjective and objective, but an important benchmark nonetheless – particularly with a locker room in which the majority of players have learned to quit from a previous coach who lost interest in the mission, or else were developed with a different system in mind.
Most importantly, we will get a chance to see the results of Napier and staff developing players they have selected instead of someone else. The W-L record will be important, but less so than how this all coalesces in ’24, NIL black-eye notwithstanding. IMO, of course.
You’re so right Neal. Napier did the best he could for the guys that hit the portal, but most were really misfits at UF that needed to go where they hopefully will be better fits.
As for 2023, whatever overall record Napier achieves, it’ll be fully on him and his staff. He won’t get another culture mulligan next season, at least not from me.
Finally, as for our NIL black-eye, it could’ve been SO MUCH worse! Check out my question further down this thread.
I’ll give him a partial mulligan, say 10%, next year simply because Rome wasn’t built in a day (neither was Athens for that matter, but don’t say that in front of Lakelife lest he totally decompensate).
2024 is for me when the maximum effective range of a mulligan is 00 meters – at that point they convert to whines.
On the subject of Kirby’s amazing turnaround from ‘16 to ‘17, there are a lot of pieces to that puzzle. One was using Chubb and Michel more while building the defensive scheme and personnel that are his calling cards. Putting his practice-hard, play-hard imprint on the team was definitely another. But I think the biggest single factor that led from 8-5 to NCG OT was the moment Eason went down and forced Kirby’s hand. When Fromm stepped in, the team energy changed.
Jake is admittedly not an NFL QB, but he had a toolbox stocked quite well enough for the college game. More importantly, though, he had the football smarts, moxie, and leadership skills most true freshmen don’t. Eason, while incredibly gifted, was WTF-erratic at times. He was never truly comfortable under center, hated turning his back to the field on play action, and threw most every pass at the same howitzer velocity. I don’t think UGA makes the playoff that year with him at the wheel. Kind of a warped addition-by-subtraction scenario that played in Kirby’s favor.
We call that ‘serendipity’, Mountain. Good info, I was always pretty amazed at the suddenness of the turn-around.
“Eason, while incredibly gifted, was WTF-erratic at times. He was never truly comfortable under center, hated turning his back to the field on play action, and threw most every pass at the same howitzer velocity.”
Mountain, history never exactly repeats, but it often rhymes. Just substitute “Richardson” in place of “Eason” in your statement above and see if it doesn’t remind of Napier’s QB dilemma in 2022.
Also in terms of the velocity of the ball, which if it been combined with accuracy might have rendered AR the second coming of George Mira.
One UGA receiver from 2016 mentioned later that he regularly dealt with bruises from Eason’s shorter throws. I think that continued in Seattle. He just never could get a handle on touch. Everything was 100 mph.
George Mira. Now there’s a blast from the past Neal! I was a kid growing up in South Florida when he played for the U.
Initially very popular, but never really got the mental side of playing QB down. Going through his progressions and putting touch on his passes were never his thing.
Yet in a gross violation of both social justice and everything good and decent, SOS rode the bench behind him at San Francisco. In all fairness though, Mira’s completions did improve at the NFL level.
Some people bring joy even they arrive, some bring joy when they leave…
It is often forgotten that coaches use the transfer portal to “encourage” problems to go find additional playing time elsewhere
Given the team went 12-14 the past two seasons combined, the turnover may not hurt.
The coaches aren’t the only ones!
I hope those players have found places that are better for them, and I hope the ones that have come in are motivated and eager to play hard and put in effort.
GatorFan, I love your positive outlook focused on the individual. It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
Thank you. I know by personal experience that people deserve 2nd chances, and the smart ones will learn from the past. Ventell Miller is a prime example of this, he learned, put in the work and became a leader.
I’ve seen it myself with soldiers over the years … I was always blessed with great NCOs who saw something that I might not have seen as the commander, and advocated for more time to work with them. One young E-4 in particular was a kid I was about to bounce, but his platoon sergeant surprisingly went to bat for him. Many years later I ran into the kid at Ft Hood and he was by then a retired Senior NCO himself with a great career. Never say never!
That’s awesome! My brother is a retired Army captain who had a successful career, thanks to good leadership that saw his potential when many others, including himself, didn’t.
That’s exactly why I separate ‘leadership’ from ‘management’, which unfortunately the Army now capitulates too on the main. A good manager is not always to good leader in that people are not simply resources, but a good leader is usually a good manager too.
Eggs and the proverbial omelet. It can be a messy process, but when you finally have the right ingredients the result is worth the effort. The kitchen for Billy has changed from IHOP to Brennan’s, though. The help is a lot more temperamental and the diners more demanding. We’ll see how the menu develops, but I do like his FA&FO approach to cooking. And I didn’t mix a single metaphor ;-)
No, you sure didn’t mix metaphors, Mountain …. and I’m saying that as a guy who has never met a phor he didn’t like.
I’ll give you another that actually fits – this ‘attrition’, for the lack of a better word, is equivalent to a discharge from the Army under the provisions of Article 13, Army Regulation 635-100: Unsuitability.
Notwithstanding a unit’s (team) Authorized Level of Organization, there is temporary pain in terms of manpower but the longer-term gain is positive in terms of unit performance. It’s not a lose-lose situation in the least, despite the time and effort expended in developing the soldier (player).
Now, I know you said you didn’t want to discuss NIL any more Neal, but these numbers beg a question.
Napier was stuck with the misfits in his locker room for one season when he took this job. He had to sort out the wheat from the chaff. However, Jimbo chose every one of his misfits. What kind of nasty witch’s brew did he and TAMU boosters pass out in that locker room by buying all that HS talent last year?
I really can’t say, being a secondary TAMU fan it would be shaded and lacking any objectivity whatsoever. BUT. It does make one wonder what in the wide-wide world of sports is a-goin’ on in College Station.
Nash recently shared his conversation with an Aggie booster, to the effect that they’re tired of Jimbo. I have heard that from other sources out here too, since a few of them live in Salado. However, I would tell you the following: (a) these are the same boosters that created the situation and they knew, or at least should have known, the potential downside; (b) Bull Gators notwithstanding, there is not a more rabid and therefore occasionally irrational group of extremely wealthy boosters to be found in college football, who are motivated to this day by the falsely presumed second-class status to the University of Texas; and (c) Nick Saban was probably right or else wasn’t entirely wrong.
As Mark Levin would say, “There! I’ve said it!”. IMO, of course.
Well, all I can say after watching the TAMU train-wreck from a distance and the Rashada train-wreck up close, is that attempting to “buy” loyalty from HS athletes is a fool’s errand. They’re not mature enough to think like full-blown pros.
A coach has to work hard, apparently for several years, to “earn” loyalty from HS recruits. Some, like Saban and Smart, are very good at it. Some, like Mullen, never figure it out. Let’s see where Napier lands in that spectrum, after he’s had the requisite three years it takes to develop a full relationship with blue-chip HS freshmen.
Doc, the Aggie heavyweights absolutely made their own bed here. They can (a) hope for the best and pray something comes of this Fisher-Petrino match seemingly made in hell, (b) repent at leisure after marrying in haste, or (c) back up the Brinks truck and try again. None are palatable options but, again, it didn’t just organically happen. Pride goeth before the fall, and all that.
I think that’s a sage take, Mountain. Reviewing the fullness of Petrino’s character liabilities, A&M may get more wins in 2023 …. but at what cost?
I depart from my Gator buds in thinking Fisher is a pretty decent coach – I’ll own that either way when push finally comes to shove – but you’re right: This pairing is a particularly toxic mix in the making. The distractions that potentially will arise out of it may indeed be the end of Jimbo.
Emilio, you’re spot on from this camera angle too. That’s one of many reasons I think the proving ground will not happen until 2024 … one way or another. Kirby got it together in Season Two, I think through force of personality and savvy, and a completely different type of inherited situation. Not equating the two coaches at all – yet – but despite all the naysayers who want to cut bait at the first sign of difficulty, three years is fair.
Neal, as I see it, there are three phases involved in elite P5 championship coaching: HS recruiting, player development and game planning/execution. Weakness in any of those three phases will bring a coach up short of the summit. And that doesn’t even take portal recruiting into account.
When I alluded to Napier needing 3 years, I only referred to top 5 HS recruiting. Mountain Dog’s excellent restaurant metaphor hits on all three phases.
By year three at UF (2024,) Napier’s HS recruits will be true juniors, true sophomores and true freshmen. Such a squad could be a top 4 caliber team IF Napier can develop a playoff caliber QB from among Mertz, Miller, or a portal guy to be named later. Rashada is now gone and Lagway will be a true freshman, preferably red shirting in 2024.
The playoff field does expand to 12 in 2024, but I’m of a strong opinion that the next 8 to qualify will just be cannon fodder for the top 4 almost every season.
With 85-man squads, college football is NOT like basketball. No G5 team is likely to ever beat the top four P5 teams, even if a couple of G5 teams were to qualify every year.
I’ve done a little G-2 on Lagaway, Emilio, in that he lives in Willis, Texas (over by Huntsville, on the other side of College Station and where I have a family member from – “Willis”, my Bloodhound). Apparently a very grounded young man, very strong family, and more mature than most teenagers from what I’m able to glean (I don’t think I’m allowed to say the rest of it without getting moderated). Wouldn’t be something if he’s …. dare I say it …. normal? That is to say, if he actually has a frontal lobe?
I think there’s no doubt that he redshirts in 2024, maybe getting into the nominal 4 games, particularly since we’ve all forgotten about Max Brown – who may turn out to be the starter by then. We really don’t know much about him other than he’s a two-sport athlete, but from what I can tell he may indeed turn out to be a stud muffin himself. Any road, don’t think CBN be as self-limiting this year or next.
I partially agree with your assessment of the 12-team playoffs, but I do think the patsies will start further down the line than #5. Actually, I would have really liked to see how that format played out this year and think it would have been surprising, though not changing the National Championship team at all.
I only brought up the 12-team playoff to make a point about what would happen to the Gators in 2024 IF they’re good enough to make the field, somewhere between #5 and #12.
Frankly, if Napier solves the QB1 dilemma by 2024, they might make that bigger field, with a little luck. They could even win a first round game IF they’re ranked 5th through 8th and get to host that first game in the Swamp. After that, it’ll get really dicey.
Mountain, I have to say I like this analogy and I’m going to have a late night breakfast because now I’m hungry. :)
Come to think of it, his comment did make me hungry too – which I also solved with a classic Tom McEwen breakfast!
I googled it and that sounds delicious!
Still doesn’t beat a mess of Krystals for breakfast, though, which has kept cardiovascular surgeons employed for 70+ years!
Homer alert!
” Doering shares that UF coaches were glad to see most of them go, as many were either not culture fits or lacked talent. ”
A number of those guys were 4 stars. Either way. Many played better under Mullen & Grantham which is sad!!!! Fact is kids leave for many reasons now. Like NIL for example! Even Georgia is losing guys like Adonis Mitchell. Yea, he was a 3 star guy but Georgia developed him into one of the best receivers. Nobody is happy seeing him go!!!!!! Georgia brought in some really great guys, but nobody likes losing a fast physical 6.3 imposing playmaker!!!!! Luckily we have a few similar that just need playing time. Georgia might have the fastest WR group we have had under Kirby and Monk in 2023!!! We just need them to stay healthy and stay at Georgia!!!!!! We also have the big accurate arm to hit them in stride 60+ yards or more down field. It really doesn’t matter who wins the competition. They all have an ELITE NFL ARM with ELITE ACCURACY!!!!!! If some of Stetson Bennett’s greatness as a leader. Along with his ability to run the offense rubbed off. Georgia might have a top 1-3 offense this next season!!!!
PS. The defense has a chance to be better!!!! I know nobody wants to hear that a BACK TO BACK NATIONAL CHAMPION COULD ACTUALLY BE BETTER NEXT SEASON. BUT ITS SIMPLY A FACT!!!!!! Everyone knows I guaranteed the 2021 national championship in 2016 and the years that led up to it. I correctly predicted the 2017 national championship game in 2016 as well. I said I believe Georgia would play well enough to win and likely get robbed. That we probably lose in multiple OT periods. I correctly predicted auburn to win the SEC WEST and be Georgia’s only regular season loss! I CORRECTLY PREDICTED GEORGIA WOULD GET REVENGE IN A BLOWOUT IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!
I CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED ALL 4 PLAYOFF TEAMS INCLUDING ALABAMA! YEP, I SAID ALABAMA NOT AUBURN WOULD BE VOTED IN. EVEN THOUGH AUBURN WON THE WEST!!!! I CORRECTLY PREDICTED THE 2017 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN 2016 & EVERYTHING SINCE ALONG WITH THE MOST FAMOUS GUARANTEE THAT MOST HATE….
I GUARANTEED THE 2021 GEORGIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AND A GEORGIA DYNASTY THAT WOULD BEGIN IN 2021! THAT ” GOD WILLING ” WOULD ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING THE SABAN ALABAMA DYNASTY DID OR WILL, AND EVEN MORE BEFORE ITS OVER!!!!!
THESE GUARANTEES AND PREDICTIONS WERE ALL MADE LONG BEFORE THE 2021 SEASON!!!!!!
I absolutely guaranteed it to begin in 2021! I also predicted a GEORGIA REPEAT and then I predicted that if IF GEORGIA DID INDEED REPEAT. THAT GEORGIA WOULD 3PEAT AND WHO KNOWS AFTER THAT???? I absolutely guaranteed the year with the championships!!!! And therefore since everything has indeed come to pass. I THEREFORE STICK MY 3PEAT PREDICTION!!!!! I truly believe it can and God willing WILL HAPPEN!!!!!
OTHER THAN THAT. NOBODY LIKES MASS EXODUS OF TALENT AND DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT!!!!
PS. But yea, sad for rivals Georgia can be EVEN BETTER IN 2023. It’s up to GOD and GEORGIA!!!!
Negan
You don’t have to convince me with CAPS and exclamation points or even a diatribe. I believe the same thing and want to see a three-peat too for Georgia.
My question is related to how you’re going to handle it when the cycle changes and Georgia is no longer as awesome. Not saying that will be soon, but it’s going to happen since it always does.